1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for assisting a caregiver when transferring, rotating, or otherwise repositioning a bedridden person. More particularly, the present invention comprises a single collapsible unit possessing arms for repositioning a bedridden patient by utilizing existing lift technology on a hospital bed to create suspension or patient movement.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
Immobility of a patient contributes greatly to the deterioration of patient health. Immobile patients are prone to bedsores and pneumonia. A bed sore can take months or years to heal depending on the severity and location of the sore. Pneumonia occurs in immobile patients because secretions pool in the lungs fostering bacterial growth. Generally side-to-side turns of such patients, approximately every two hours, can prevent many occurrences of bedsores and pneumonia. Additionally, side-to-side turns are necessary to accomplish examinations of the patient. However, turns of this nature are generally the responsibility of hospital nurses, orderlies, or other staff in similar types of facilities.
Additionally, patients require the head of the bed to be raised to facilitate breathing and increase comfort. As a result of this incline, patients tend to slide toward the foot of the bed, impeding a patient's normal breathing and digestive functions and resulting in patient discomfort.
When a patient is obese or larger than the staff member, the force required to properly reposition the patient is considerable. Consequently, multiple staff members are required to reposition the patient manually. Moreover, if additional staff members are unavailable, the lone staff member is susceptible to injuries while attempting to transfer or reposition the patient without either mechanical assistance or, additional staff labor.
Back injury is a common work injury of nurses and hospital staff generally as a result of moving overweight, obese or patients who are significantly larger than the staff member. The act of turning a patient from side to side precludes proper body mechanics for lifting. In addition, obesity in the United States is increasing in marked amounts. Patient weight increases will only exacerbate the rate of back injuries among nurses, and increase the number of workers compensation claims filed as a result of such injuries as well as reduce the number of able body hospital staff. Consequently, assistance is necessarily required to accomplish necessary patient movement as well as protect hospital staff members against injury proximately resulting from patient repositioning, turning and transference.
Moreover, the task of patient repositioning is labor intensive and time consuming. Generally, patient movement requires at least two staff members. Generally nurses are female and significantly smaller in stature and weight then the patients they are assigned to care for. Furthermore, hospitals and skilled nursing facilities are homes to patients weighing in excess of 250 pounds. Consequently, at least three staff members are sometimes required to reposition a patient of this size. With the increase of nursing and staffing shortages, it is frequently impossible to gather enough staff members to move a large or oversized patient. Thus, either patient care suffers or the risk of injury to staff members is greatly increased.
Another problem is money. Devices that incorporate machines, motors, and other complicated machinations to effectuate lift and other movement cost much more money than those that don't as well as incur more potential for civil liability should one of those machinations fail. Further, existing devices do not have a simple and effective means of gripping fabric, draw sheets, or standard hospital bed linens on which a patient is lying. Typically, devices such as that found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,238 to Votel are meant for patient transfer only and because of the gripping design are not easy for a caregiver to attach to linens.
Therefore a need exists for a functional, yet simple to operate, patient repositioning apparatus. Such an apparatus must be operational by one staff member without compromising patient safety and staff member safety; easy to install and operate as well as not consume scarce space in hospital or skilled nursing facility; must not compromise patient safety when effectuating the tasks of patient repositioning; can be used by a single caregiver to reposition a patient; is capable of easy attachment to linens for suspension of a person; and does not require expensive internal machinations to accomplish patient lift but uses existing lift technology on beds to accomplish suspension or movement of a patient.